Agent 44
Agent 44 of CONTROL always got the same kind of assignments as Agent 34 before him. While he would rather have been doing field work, he usually found himself cooped up inside some common household object. 44 had a tendency to feel sorry for himself and whine about his predicaments. He claimed that secret messages were one of his specialities #28: "[[Ship of Spies, Part 2]"]. 44 often felt he had to prove himself to the other agents and that they would look down on him. The fact that he could never wear his tuxedo on a case really bothered him #19: "[[Back to the Old Drawing Board]"]. On more than one occasion, 44 would break down and cry, which he knew the Chief disliked. Assignments After a period in which he was stationed in Europe, 44 found himself hiding in a medicine chest in Maxwell Smart's compartment aboard the Orient Express. As 86's first contact, 44 complained about not having been paid in six months. This was due to the payments being sabotaged by KAOS operatives. 44 managed to get some money out of 86's pocket by having him pay for his messages. Fortunately for 44, 86 was interrupted by other passengers several times and had to destroy the messages each time before he could read them. #13: "[[Aboard the Orient Express]".] At a party beIng held for the emminent scientist Dr. Alonzo Shotwire, 44 was hidden inside a grandfather clock. 44 was distraught to learn he was using the wrong counter-countersign because he had not received the updated book yet. When 44 got very emotional, 86 gave him his own copy, which he had already memorized. 44 was then informed by the Chief that Agent 91 had been replaced by an enemy agent (Hymie the robot). He tried to knock out the imposter from his position in the clock, only to receive a blow to the head from the powerful robot in return. #19: "[[Back to the Old Drawing Board]".] 44 was at his most active in the Blue Mist Mountain case. At Washington Airport, he turned up hiding in a duffel bag carried in by a sailor (who may or may not have been an agent of CONTROL). 44 not only managed to correctly identify KAOS agent Nealis, but saved Agent 86's life by shooting Nealis's gun out of his hand. By the end of the case 44 appeared on his own two feet for the first time, capturing the head KAOS Agent in the woods outside the cabin where they had been meeting. #24: "[[Stakeout on Blue Mist Mountain]".] During the case at Badeff Concert Hall, 44 was stationed upside down inside a bass cello case to keep an eye on fellow agent Rudolph Hubert. This position caused the blood to rush to his head, his loose change to fall from his pockets and presented 44 with great dificulty digesting his dinner. In this condition, everything looked suspicious to 44, yet he completely failed to be of any help in this case, being more interested in complaining about his situation. Because of his upside down state, 44 referred to Agent 99 as '66'. #26: "[[Hubert's Unfinished Symphony]".] 44's most difficult case was aboard the freighter Evening Star, the so-called "ship of spies". On his fifth trip aboard this ship, 44 found himself disguised as a monkey inside one half of the cargo hold containing a total of 3000 monkeys. He did not mind eating with the monkeys, who generally got cabbage for dinner. He and some of the other monkeys got together to try and break through to the other compartment holding 9 tons of bananas. He first contacted 86 when the ship was about 20 miles out to sea, hanging outside the porthole of 86's cabin. 44 was clever enough to replace his monkey disguise with a raincoat and hat. As 86 was looking for the person who smuggled the plans for the nuclear amphibean battleship on board, 44 handed over a list of possible suspects (the entire passenger list). #27: "[[Ship of Spies, Part 1]".] The next day, 44 was trying to get a bit of a suntan in the ship's smoke stack when he overheard two suspect passengers discussing the stolen plans. He then left an elaborate secret message on the porthole windows of 86 and 99's cabins to get them to meet him on deck. This time he hid in a funnel. When expressing his feelings about his stationary assignments, 44 broke down and cried, then asked 86 & 99 not to tell the Chief. Just when he was to reveal some vital deductions to 86, 44 was shot in the shoulder by a KAOS agent (Captain Groman). Luckily it was only a superficial wound. The Chief decided to give 44 some assignments on dry land after that. #28: "[[Ship of Spies, Part 2]".] "Assignment on dry land" appears to have been a euphemism for being taken off active duty because for the next three years 44 is replaced as surveilance operative first by Agent 13 and once by Agent 8 1/2. During this interregnum 44 apparently serves as a member of the CONTROL law firm 18, 26, 35, 44, 51, 33 and Sons Episode #77: "[[The Little Black Book, Part 2]"]. When Agent 44 returns he is a changed man since he is now being played by a different actor prone to giving himself pep talks with the air of one who has been through some kind of therapy. He is seen on two further assignments: Disguised as a baby in a baby buggy at Bunny Beebe's Bye-Bye Baby Buggy Bargain Bazaar on Barnaby Boulevard #114: "[[Ironhand]"] and in a lit pot-bellied stove in a pub in the Canadian arctic #125: "[[Ice Station Siegfried]"]. Appearances Season One *1.13- Aboard the Orient Express *1.19- Back to the Old Drawing Board *1.24- Stakeout on Blue Mist Mountain *1.26- Hubert's Unfinished Symphony *1.27- Ship of Spies (1) *1.28- Ship of Spies (2) Season Five *5.02- Ironhand *5.13- Ice Station Siegfried The Season One version of Agent 44 also appears in Novel #3: "Get Smart Once Again!". Actors *Victor French (Season 1) *Al Molinaro (Season 5) Quotes *''Aboard the Orient Express'' 86: "I had to destroy the first message. Do you have a copy?" 44: "Well you know 86, secret message paper doesn't grow on trees..." *''Back to the Old Drawing Board'' 44: (breaks down and cries) "It isn't fair, I'm a good agent. I haven't been able to wear my tuxedo once. Not once! And who'd see it in a clock?" *''Hubert's Unfinished Symphony'' 44: (stationed upside down in a cello case) "Hey Chief, you know, I'm getting tired of these assignments. The blood's been rushing to my head all day. I had an awful time digesting my dinner." 86: "Anything I can do for ya?" 44: "Just one thing. Could you pick up the loose change from the bottom of the case? It keeps falling out of my pockets." 99: "Hello 44." 44: (still stuck in a cello case) "Hello 66." 99: "66? I'm 99." 44: "Well I'm upside down." *''Ship of Spies'' 86: "Nice to see that you're here backing me up. How far out are we?" 44: (hanging outside the porthole to Max's cabin on the Evening Star) "Oh, about twenty miles." 86: "Oh, how can you tell?" 44: "Well this is my fifth trip, you get so you can recognize the signs. (a wave crashes over him) The temperature of the water, the kind of seagulls, the number of fish around." 86: "Oh, are there fish around?" 44: "Sure take a look." (scoops over so Max can look out the porthole to see a couple of menacing fins sticking out of the water) 86: "Oh yes, I see them. Quite a bit of them, too. What are they?" 44: "Sharks." (86 does a double take) "There's nothing to worry about. There just waiting around for something to eat." 86: "Like what?" 44: "Like me." 44: (hiding in a funnel) "What took you so long to get here?" 86: "Well, first of all, we had to decode that secret message you left on the porthole." 44: "Was it hard? You know, secret messages are one of my specialties." 86: "I've seen harder..." 99: "Max figured it out right away." 44: "You did? Well you wait until next time. I've got a humdinger. You'll never get it!" 86: "What are you talking about, 44? What good is a secret message if no once can understand it?" 44: "Listen, 86, I don't have much fun on this job. There's no mingling with the glamorous passengers, no deck tennis. No gala evenings at the captain's table. No, no, not for me." 86: "Take it easy, 44. Take it easy." 44: "I mean, a spy can only take so much. Funnels and portholes and sleeping in the cargo hold Hiding, always hiding. I want to come in from the cold." Addendum *Shortly before 44's first appearance, an identical-looking person as he is played by Victor French claiming to be Maxwell Smart's mutual insurance agent knocked on Max's apartment door. Taking no chances, Smart knocked the man out with a single karate chop to the neck. He then found out the man was telling the truth and send him on his way. The insurance agent claimed 'a lot of people feel that way about insurance'. #11: "[[Too Many Chiefs]".] Category: Characters Category:CONTROL Agents